


Together Upon the Open Road

by TheDisneyOutsider



Series: Comfortember 2020 [14]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Bonding, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker is a Little Shit, Peter Parker is a Mess, Road Trips, Slice of Life, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:42:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27567676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDisneyOutsider/pseuds/TheDisneyOutsider
Summary: “Peter, you are literally surrounded by bags of snacks right now. Do you really think I’d let you go hungry?”“No,” Peter admitted, “But some parents would say we didn’t need to stop because we have enough food in the car. Are you like that?”Tony rolled his eyes, “Kid, I am going to feed you, I am going to water you, I am going to let you stop to tinkle, okay?”Comfortember, Day 14: Road Trip
Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Comfortember 2020 [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1995802
Comments: 24
Kudos: 161
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	Together Upon the Open Road

**Author's Note:**

> Day 14. You know how in a thirty-day challenge there's bound to be one that you're just never happy with? Yep, this is it for me guys and gals! But I promised to post every day so here it is anyway! 😂 Written and rewritten and rewritten again!

“So, you’re not one of those people who won’t stop to let anyone go to the bathroom on a road trip, are you Mr. Stark?”

  
  


Tony turned from the wheel to glance at his protege with a quirked eyebrow, “When have I ever not let you go to the bathroom in all the time you’ve known me, Pete?”

  
  


Peter shrugged, gazing out the window, “Never, I just wanted to make sure. Road trip rules are different from everyday rules.”

  
  


Tony turned back to the road, “Well, the answer’s no. I’m not the kind of person who won’t let you stop for a bathroom on a seven-hour drive.”

  
  


“Okay, good,” Peter nodded, “I suppose that means you’re also not the type to say we can’t stop for lunch until we get there... right?”

  
  


Tony gave an exasperated chuckle, “Peter, you are literally surrounded by bags of snacks right now. Do you really think I’d let you go hungry?”

  
  


“No,” Peter admitted, “But some parents would say we didn’t need to stop because we have enough food in the car. Are you like that?”

  
  


Tony rolled his eyes, “Kid, I am going to feed you, I am going to water you, I am going to let you stop to tinkle, okay?”

  
  


“Toooony,” Peter blushed at the phrasing.

  
  


“The road trip is half of the fun, buddy. We’re not going to push through the next seven hours just to get there. We have nothing planned for today but this drive.”

  
  


Peter smiled towards his mentor, “Cool.”

  
  


He had never been on a road trip, well apart from a few shorter trips with his school for Decathlon meets, and those didn’t really count. So when Tony had suggested to May that he take Peter on a trip to his house in Maine during one of the weeks of summer vacation, Peter had been ecstatic, and May wouldn’t have been able to say no if she had tried. Luckily she hadn’t.

  
  


They were going to spend a week enjoying the beaches, fresh air, and eating plenty of seafood! Tony had described the place in great detail, and Peter had hung on to his every word. It sounded amazing, and he couldn't wait to get there! But first, they had to get past the seven-hour car trip, something Peter had also been looking forward to for some, weird reason.

  
  


“Can we listen to music?” Peter requested a short time later.

  
  


“Sure, kid,” Tony nodded.

  
  


Peter grabbed the AUX cord, connecting his phone, and putting on his Disney playlist.

  
  


Tony groaned, “Never mind, I take it back. Kid, I meant  _ good _ music.”

  
  


Peter gasped dramatically, “How dare you say Disney music’s not good music, Mr. Stark!? Anybody who listens to ‘I Just Can’t Wait to be King,’ and doesn’t get the urge to sing along is a monster!”

  
  


Tony rolled his eyes, “I thought I was teaching you better than this, kid.”

  
  


“Just because I can now tell the difference between Led Zeppelin and AC/DC, doesn’t mean I can’t listen to any other type of music,” Peter threw an eye roll of his own back at the man.

  
  


“You’re really going to make me sit here and listen to this crap while I’m driving you seven hours without any other form of entertainment?”

  
  


The guilt trip worked and Peter stuck out his lower lip, “No, we can change it, sorry Tony.”

  
  


Tony glanced at the kid before sighing heavily, “Leave it.”

  
  


“Really?” Peter lit up brightly once more.

  
  


“How am I supposed to say no to that kicked puppy face?”

  
  


“You really can’t,” Peter shrugged as if he had known what he was doing all along, and Tony shook his head at the boy.

  
  


“One hour. Then we do something else.”

  
  


Peter only laughed, already belting out the lyrics with passion.

A while later, just as his stomach was telling him it was time for lunch, and he was about to pull out one of the numerous snacks Tony had packed for him, the man turned down the music, catching Peter's attention as they pulled up beside an old looking building. It was small but interesting looking, and Peter curiously wondered what they were doing there.

  
  


“What is this place?” Peter questioned, getting out of the car as Tony did the same.

  
  


“Louis’ Lunch,” Tony smiled towards it, “Birthplace of the hamburger. Well, apparently. I choose to believe it. You’ll love it, kid!”

  
  


“Awesome, I’m starving!” he declared, following his mentor into the building.

  
  


The place was small, and as soon as they walked through the door, every head turned to them. Peter cringed, preparing for the usual fan reaction whenever he went anywhere with Tony, but instead, nearly everyone just smiled.

  
  


“Mr. Stark!” an older man said, coming out from behind the bar, “It’s been a while.”

  
  


Tony smiled too, brightly, “Phil, how have you been?”

  
  


Peter raised his eyebrow, unaware that Tony knew this place so well that he was on a first-name basis with what appeared to be the owner.

  
  


“Phil, this is my youngest intern, Peter. Peter, Phil Lassen.”

  
  


“Good to meet you, Peter,” Phil extended his hand and Peter took it, stumbling over his own greeting as they were brought to their table and left alone.

  
  


“So you come here a lot?” Peter raised his eyebrow, referring to the warm reception they had just been given.

  
  


Tony shrugged, “Whenever I’m in town and have the time. This place has been in Phil’s family for years. It’s actually one of the only places my dad ever took me when I was small,” he shrugged, “What can I say? Stark men love their hamburgers.”

  
  


“So what will it be boys?” Phil came back to their table a short time later, “Tony, I know what you’ll be having.”

  
  


“He’ll have the same Phil,” Tony ordered without consulting with Peter, “Trust me, Pete, it’s the best on the menu!”

  
  


Peter did trust him, and he wasn’t picky, so he agreed easily.

  
  


It didn’t take long for them to be brought their food, a hamburger enclosed in two pieces of bread instead of a bun. After the first few bites, Peter was convinced and declared enthusiastically that they were indeed the best burgers he had ever had. He adamantly made Tony promise to bring him back sometime, like maybe on the way home, and after Tony agreed that they would try, the two were back in the car.

  
  


They were about forty-five minutes past the diner when Peter looked up from his phone that he’d been playing on for the last little while and randomly stated, “I’m hot.”

  
  


Tony glanced at him, turning down his own music that he had turned on when the kid had switched to games on his phone, so they could have a proper conversation, “The air’s already on full blast, kid.”

  
  


“I  _ know _ ,” he sighed, squirming uncomfortably.

  
  


In one moment, Tony had gone from looking at Peter’s face to getting a face full of spider behind. Peter had unbuckled and thrown himself past the center console as he squirmed to reach something in the back.

  
  


“Peter! What are you doing, sit back down and put your seatbelt on!” Tony snapped, attempting to control the situation while keeping his eyes on the road at the same time.

  
  


Unbothered by Tony’s dramatics, Peter squirmed himself further into the backseat, sitting in the seat behind his own, and buckling himself up, proceeding to root through his bag without a care.

  
  


“Peter, that is not what I meant!” Tony sighed, feeling a headache coming on, though that might have been from the Disney music still stuck in his head even though they’d shut it off a while ago.

  
  


“What? I’m buckled,” Peter only shrugged.

  
  


“Yeah, after doing something incredibly dangerous, Peter! What if we had been in an accident? You would have gone flying! What if you had  _ caused  _ an accident?”

  
  


Peter rolled his eyes, “Don’t you come from the generation who grew up without seat belts?”

  
  


“And then he calls me old,” Tony mumbles to the steering wheel, before directing his attention back to the kid, “Just don’t do that again, you hear me? What did you need so badly anyway that you felt you couldn’t take two seconds to say ‘hey Tony, can we pull over for a minute?’”

  
  


“I needed cooler clothes!” Peter explained, finally pulling the sought out shorts from his bag, "Don’t look back here, I’m going to change out of these jeans.”

  
  


“You know we could have stopped, found a bathroom, got a  _ coffee,  _ done this all like a normal person, right?” Tony rolled his eyes.

  
  


“You’ve already had four coffees today,” Peter pointed out as he squirmed his body trying to get his jeans off while still sitting, “Pepper would tell me to cut you off.”

  
  


“Yeah, and May would tell me to remind you that we both told you to wear comfy clothes when you left the apartment this morning. Not to mention what she’d say about that dangerous little stunt you just pulled.”

  
  


“Okay, okay, touche” Peter sighed, finishing changing, and scooting back into the front seat before Tony could stop him.

  
  


“Peter!” Tony glared at the boy, who buckled quickly and shot him a sheepish grin. He shook his head, “Hand over your phone.”

  
  


He held his hand out expectantly while keeping the other firmly on the wheel. Peter squeaked, “What? Why!”

  
  


“Caus you just put your life in danger twice within the last five minutes, and your listening skills are terrible. We’re going to spend some quality time together now, you don’t need your phone.”

  
  


Peter pouted, but gave in, handing the device to the man who placed it in the pocket of his door, then turned up the music, “Now let's make sure those rock lessons from before have stuck.”

  
  


Peter moped, “Yeah well I  _ hate  _ Led Zeppelin,” he stated firmly as AC/DC played.

  
  


“That joke wasn’t funny the first time kid, but if you keep insisting on making it, then I guess we need more lessons!” Tony concluded, cranking the music louder to drown out Peter’s groan.

  
  


* * *

  
  


“Where are we?” Peter groaned a few hours later. He had been taking a nap for the past thirty minutes but had woken when he felt the car slowing down.

  
  


“Well… we were near MIT, and I figured it might be fun to take a quick tour, what do you say kid?” Tony smiled, and it was obvious he was giddy with excitement at the idea of showing his kid around his and Rhodey’s old stomping ground.

  
  


“That sounds like fun,” Peter nodded, “Just remember, I haven’t made my mind up that I’m actually going here, you know. Spider-Man needs New York.”

  
  


Tony waved his hand, “I know, I know, but it doesn’t hurt to look, right? Just entertain an old man, would ya?”

  
  


“So you’re finally admitting that you’re old, huh,” Peter replied cheekily, opening his car door and getting out.

  
  


Tony swatted his shoulder, grinning, “You know, I was thinking it might be a good idea to have you walk the rest of the way to Maine. Give you some time to reflect on all that sass you’ve been giving me.”

  
  


“I mean, I made it to Maryland from DC,” Peter shrugged, “I’m sure I could manage a few more hours of car hopping.”

  
  


“Ha, yeah, good one kid,” Tony shook his head, hating to even visualize that suggestion, “Now let’s go, we have a tour to take, then I need to purchase you a ridiculously expensive MIT sweatshirt so you'll stop stealing mine!”

  
  


“I can’t help it, it’s soft!” Peter defended himself, wondering if he’d like his own sweatshirt as much if it didn’t smell like Tony. Safe, and like home.

  
  


Tony flung his arm around Peter’s shoulders, “Sure is, Pete. Now let me show you around.”

  
  


They had spent longer than they probably should have exploring every inch of the property that was so familiar to Tony. Peter had enjoyed himself immensely, listening to all the old stories that Tony remembered along the way. He was sure that Rhodey wouldn’t be thrilled when he learned that Peter had heard about some of his less than flattering moments as a college student, and Peter laughed at the thought of bringing them up when Rhodey would least expect it.

  
  


The car had been filled with way more MIT merch than one person really needed, but telling Tony no when he was that excited had been a lost cause. So, instead, he had accepted it all graciously.

  
  


Peter sighed as they settled back into the car, exhausted but happy from the day so far, “Thanks for taking me. That was fun.”

  
  


“No problem, kiddo,” Tony smiled, having just as much fun showing the kid around. Seeing Peter standing in the huge library earlier, Tony couldn’t help but picture his kid actually attending his alma mater in a few short years. The idea both excited and saddened him.

  
  


“It’s going to be pretty late when we get to Maine now though,” Peter glanced at the clock and felt guilty, “You’re going to be tired from driving all day.”

  
  


Tony waved his hand, “It’s fine. I’m used to staying up until all hours of the night, remember? You rest though, it’s been a long day, and we were up pretty early.”

  
  


Peter yawned, “You can sleep in tomorrow. I’ll get up and make breakfast for us.”

  
  


Tony smiled at his thoughtful kid, “You don’t need to do that.”

  
  


Peter shook his head, closing his eyes, “I am. I really appreciate you taking me with you this week.”

  
  


“It’s nothing, kiddo. I’m looking forward to it too.”  _ More than you know. _

  
  


* * *

  
  


It  _ was _ late when Tony pulled up the long driveway of his vacation home. He stalled the car and turned to the boy sleeping peacefully beside him. There were wrappers everywhere from the many snacks that were required to make it through the trip, and the contents of Peter’s backpack were thrown around the backseat from his early gymnastics act. The car was a wreck, which probably meant it had been a successful road trip. He would need to get Peter to help him clean it before they got back on the road to go home later that week, but for now, they were on vacation, and Tony was looking forward to spending the next few days relaxing with his favourite kid.

**Author's Note:**

> I really really hope that you all enjoyed this! Please leave me some nice words in the comments if you did!


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